"The incident took place on board INS Nireekshak on April 16," Captain DK Sharma told NDTV. A fall-back oxygen can attached to a helmet burst when it was being refilled.

Two other sailors received splinter injuries in the stomach region and legs.

They were admitted in Military Hospital, Trivandrum as ship was on it way to Mumbai from Visakhapatnam.

The sailors were stated to be in a stable condition and have now been shifted to Mumbai.

INS Nireekshak, built for oil exploration purposes but functioning as a submarine rescue vessel, was 40 nautical miles away from the Vizhinjam coast, a seaport near Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, when the incident happened.